Rich red wine gravy made with sweet caramelized onions and beef stock. No meat drippings needed! Perfect with roast beef, mashed potatoes or holiday dinners.
I’ve always believed a good gravy can make or break a dinner. I’ve tweaked this red wine onion gravy many times over the years to get it perfect. It’s rich, glossy and packed with flavour, whilst only requiring a handful of simple ingredients. It’s the kind of gravy that makes you want to mop up every last drop! Follow me…
Ingredient Notes
The great thing about this gravy is that you don’t need meat drippings to make it. I wanted to create a reliable, go-to gravy that you could make from scratch, whether you’ve got a roast in the oven or not. It also uses just a handful of simple ingredients! You’ll find the full quantities in the recipe card, but here are a few quick notes on each one:
- Red Wine – You don’t need anything fancy or expensive, and you certainly don’t need a whole bottle. So long as it’s dry, not sweet.
- Onion – I prefer red onion, but white onion works too. I recommend thinly slicing rather than finely dicing so you get some lovely texture throughout the gravy.
- Butter – For cooking the onions and helping thicken the gravy.
- Flour – Plain/all-purpose flour combines with the butter to form a roux, which thickens the gravy.
- Beef Stock – This makes up the bulk of the gravy, so use a good-quality stock for the best flavour.
- Worcestershire Sauce – Adds a lovely savoury depth of flavour.
- Redcurrant Jelly – I love how this adds a subtle fruity sweetness that pairs beautifully with the red wine and helps balance its sharpness. If you can’t find it, grape jelly is a good substitute (start with less and work up as it’s a little sweeter).
Using meat drippings
If it’s steak, sausages or something you’ve pan-fried, just use the fat to start the gravy. If you’re roasting a larger piece of meat, just skim the fat and use some of the dripping to replace the stock.
Tips for making the gravy
The gravy is incredibly easy to make. Over the years I’ve picked up a few tips that really make the difference:
- Don’t rush the onions – Cooking the onions low and slow until they’re properly caramelized gives the gravy a lovely depth of flavour and natural sweetness.
- Add the stock gradually – Slowly whisking in the stock will loosen everything up and help prevent lumps.
- Get the consistency right – The gravy will thicken as it simmers, but remember it’ll thicken further as it cools. If it gets too thick, just stir in a splash more stock. If it’s too thin, let it simmer a little longer.
Process shots: fry onions in butter (photo 1), add butter (photo 2), stir in flour (photo 3), stir in wine (photo 4), whisk in stock, Worcestershire sauce and jelly (photo 5), simmer (photo 6).
Absolutely! This is a great one to get out of the way before a roast dinner or holiday feast. Let the gravy cool, then tightly cover and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Yes! Once cooled, transfer to an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
I recommend gently reheating it in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring regularly until piping hot. It’ll likely have thickened in the fridge, so just add a splash of stock to loosen it up if needed. If you’ve roasted meat on the day, you can also stir in some of the roasting juices for extra flavour!
Serving Suggestions
There are so many ways in which you could serve this gravy, but here are my absolute favourites:
- Roast Beef or Lamb
- Bangers and Mash
- Thanksgiving, Christmas or a regular Sunday Dinner
- Sausage Schnitzel
- Extra gravy for a Cottage Pie (or Shepherd’s Pie)
- Steak
Looking for another homemade gravy without drippings? Check out my All Purpose Homemade Gravy!
Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for this red wine onion gravy shall we?
How to make Red Wine Onion Gravy (Full Recipe & Video)
Red Wine Onion Gravy
Equipment
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board (for onions)
- Medium Sized Pot or Pan with Wooden Spoon
- Jug (for stock)
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp / 30g Butter
- 1 large Red Onion, peeled & sliced (weight of whole onion approx 7oz/200g)
- 2 tbsp All Purpose/Plain Flour
- 1/3 cup / 80ml Dry Red Wine (see notes)
- 2 cups / 500ml good-quality Beef Stock
- 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 tsp Red Currant Jelly (see notes)
- Salt & Pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and fry until softened and starting to pick up colour, then turn the heat down to medium-low and fry until soft, sticky and caramelized, around 30 minutes. The lower and slower you fry the onion, the more it will caramelize and the sweeter it will be.
- Melt in the remaining tablespoon of butter, then stir in the flour until a roux forms. Stir in the wine, then slowly stir in the beef stock, whisking as you go to ensure no lumps form. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and redcurrant jelly.
- Allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the gravy reaches your desired thickness. It will thicken, just keep simmering away (typically 10-15 minutes). Take into consideration that the gravy will thicken more as it cools. Check for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper, then serve and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Your Private Notes:
Nutrition
Looking for more?
You’ll find plenty more delicious comfort food like this in my Debut Cookbook ‘Comfy’
I made this gravy for a roast beef dinner for my family a few weeks ago and it was delicious. The addition of the jam really made the gravy pop. I used red raspberry as that is what i had on hand. I want to make it again tonight. I am currently making some puff pastry and I’m thinking of making steak bites mixed in this gravy wrapped in the puff pastry like some kind of steak pockets or possibly just one large pie (yet to be decided). Maybe served with some fresh asparagus and creamy mashed potatoes or go a little lighter with swapping the potato for carrot and turnip mash or maybe carrot and parsnip fries. Bare with me as my dinner recipes is generally made up and decided as I go along. Ok so back on track to the reason I am commenting. I would have to cool the gravy before adding it to pastry so that the pastry doesn’t become soggy at the bottom. Would the gravy separate inside the pastry when reheating in the oven?
Hi Caroline! Thanks so much for the review. Great to hear the gravy went down well. I imagine the gravy should hold up pretty well in the pastry 🙂 C.
I’ve made this gravy now many times. It’s my new go-to. So easy and so delicious. I’ve veganized your recipe. Using vegan butter, vegan Worcestershire sauce and I add a tsp of brown sugar as I don’t usually have red currant jelly. Thank you for this very tasty gravy recipe.
Great to hear this can be veganized! Thanks so much for the review, Antonela 🙂 C.
Delicious with bangers and mash!
I made the recipe and as it was only for two I have frozen the rest. Hoping it wl be as good?
Great to hear this went down well, Sandra! I’ve never frozen this before but my instinct is you’ll be fine. C.
Can I use a different stock to beef?
I’d stick with beef for this, it pairs best with the red wine.
1 tbsp isn’t nearly enough flour to offset all the liquid in this recipe and thicken to a gravy consistency. Beware that all the 5 star reviews appear to be from people who haven’t actually tried the recipe, they just say it “looks good”. Taste is nice but I added a significant amount of cornstarch to thicken afterwards.
Glad to hear you worked it out with the extra cornstarch. The longer you simmer the thicker the gravy will get 🙂
Delicious and easy! I have done this one a few times, straight in the frying pan after browning my beef meatballs. That way, the burnt bits from the meat also go into the gravy for extra flavour, and the gravy helps pull the burnt bits off the pan to make washing up a lot easier 🙂
Is there anything more delicious than onion gravy on mash?!
I genuinely don’t think there is!!
mmm this recipe looks very tasty! I like that it can be cook quickly and easy. This is perfect for me. I definitely want to try this! Thank you for sharing this great recipe!
Thanks so much, Veena! Enjoy! 🙂
Holy moly. This sounds absolutely divine! I’ve never had a gravy flavored with red wine and onion. Yum!
It’s so good! You gotta try 🙂
Brilliant! What a girgeius color do the sauce. I normally add leftover red wine to My pasta sauces. This gravy looks rich and elegant and simple recipe too!
Thanks, Sonal! Adding leftover wine to things just makes the world a better place 😉